Stopper-rod.



S. DOWREY, JR.

STOPPER ROD.

APPLICATION men MAYIB, 191a Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

- 1W1]; m I 172L11 /m 2 l W m i\\\\\\\\\\\\ /w mmnmmr Witness:

Inventor Attorney SAMUEL DOWREY, J'R-., OF -IIIIIDIDLIE'J.OWN, OHIO.

s'rorrmenon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

'Application filed May 18, 1918. Serial N 0. 235,259.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL'DOWREY, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stopper-Rods, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in stopper-rods of metallurgical ladles em ployed in teeming, and the improvements will be readily understood from the following description: taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of a ladle fitted with my improved stopper-rod: and

Fig. 2 an elevation, on a larger scale, of a portion of the stopper-rod, with parts appearing in vertical diametrical section.

Infthe drawing;

1, indicates the ladle:

2, the nozzle-brick:

3, the stopper-seat in the nozzle-brick:

4, the stopper-rod, considered as a whole: 7 5,a portion of the actuating mechanism attached tothe upper end of the stopperrod'to serve in'raising and lowering it: and

6, the rod proper.

All of the parts thus far referred to, so far as external appearance of the stopperrod goes, as illustrated in Fig. 1, may be as usual and subject to all usual or appropriate modifications.

Proceeding with the drawing:

7, indicatesahea'd on'the lower end of the rod, the same providing an upwardly presenting shoulder exterior to the periphery of the rod:

8, the head-brick, centrally perforated and strung upon the rod from its upper end and supported by the head of the rod:

9, the sleeve-bricks strung in succession upon the rod and resting on the head-brick:

10, a hole extending axially entirely through the rod:

11, a threaded recess in the lower face of the head-brick, this recess having a vertical depth considerably greater than the depth of head 7, and having a minimum diameter sufficient to admit the head:

12, a stopper-block screwed into and filling the recess in the head-brick below the rod-head:

13, an axial passage, preferably square,

through this stopper-block in line with the axial bore of the rod:

14, a stopping for this passage:

15, a flexible pipe connected with the axial bore of the rod: and 16 a metallic washer loose on the rod 6 and resting on the head-brick.

It is to be understood that the head-brick and sleeve-bricks are formed of refractory material, as usual, and that the perforations through them are large enough to permit-their being freely strung upon the rod, and that in applying them the joints between them will be luted with a suitable refractory wash, or the like, so that when the top nut on the rod is screwed down it draws all-the bricks tightly together so that the metal in the ladle has no access to the rod. The stopper-block 12 maybe a block of refractory material screwed and cemented into place after the bricks have been clamped upon the rod, or the stopping may be formed of a refractory plastic properly applied in the recess in the head brick. If the stopping is formed by an inserted solid it may have the passage 13, if desired, formed in it, and if the plastic system be employed for the stopping, then the passage 13 may be molded into it by properly placing a temporary core, as a plug of wood matching the bore ofthe rod. The passage 13 is to be closed by the stopping 14 which may be a corking of plastic refractory material, completely closing thelower end of the' general structure.

The structure described possesses simplicity and strength and is easy of repair in case of ordinary accidents, which usually consist in the opening of the joints between the brick so as to permit access to the hot metal to the metallic rod which, if burned off as frequently occurs in these constructions, calls for considerable delay and expense in repairs, while in the present case the comparatively massive rod is not likely to be destroyed by any ordinary leakage of hot metal so as to destroy the integrity of the structure.

Normally the washer 16 is without office. The head 7 of the rod forms an upwardly presenting shoulder of rather limited radial extent, due to the desire to' avoid weakening the head-brick. If, for any reason, the

head-brick becomes split in use, then the bath in the ladle at once attacks the unprotected head, tending to reduce its diameter by fusing it away. The sleeve-bricks 9 settle down upon the rod, the lowermost one of the series taking the place of the headbrick and forming a makeshift head-brick descends in advance of the lowermost sleevebrick and gives to that brick a better support than it would have if resting directly upon the head of the bolt, and this support will continue until the head of the bolt has wasted away sufficiently to permit the washer to drop from the rod whereupon, of course, the stopper-rod becomes useless.

In ordinary practice much trouble arises from freezing at the nozzle, a common observation being that the freeze begins at the base of the nozzle-brick and then proceeds upwardly. One way of getting out of such trouble is to pry a freezing plug out of the nozzle downwardly, by getting a grip with a pry on such downward fianging of the plug as may have resulted from slobbering. Another plan is to cut on such flanging and then to drive the freezing plu upward by lowering the ladle on a bleec ingpeg, a plan often successful, but, in case the plugis Very high, sometimes resulting in the displacement of the nozzle-brick and the loss of the heat being poured. Another plan is to direct a jet from an oxygen blow-pipe upwardly on the plug to melt it out. All these plans are exceedingly troublesome and risky. In the present case, in case of a freeze, oxygen under pressure isturned on ee ers to pipe 15, the result being that stopping 14 is blown out and the stopper-structure becomes a blow-pipe operating safely directly at the trouble; When the stopper-rod has thus been employed as a blow-pipe, the hot metal may get access to the lower end of the metallic rod but is not liable to burn off the head of the rod before the pouring of the heat can be completed.

I claim 1. A stopper-rodcomprising, a rod proper provided with a head presenting a shoulder upwardly, a head-brick provided with an axialperforation of a size adapting it to be strungdownw ardly upon the rod and pro-, vided with a bottom recess to house the head of the rod proper, a washer loose on the rod proper between the head-brick and the lowermost sleeve-brick, a stopping in such recess to protect the head, and perforated sleeve-bricks strung in series upon the rod proper and supported by the head-brick, combined substantially as set forth.

2. A stopper-rod comprising, a rod proper provided with ahead presenting a shoulder upwardly, a head-brick provided with an axial perforation of a size adapted to be strung downwardly upon the rod and provided with a threaded bottom recess to house the head of the rod proper, a threaded stopper-block to screw into such recess, and perforated sleeve-bricks, strung in series upon the rod proper and supported by the headbrick, combined substantially as set forth, I 3. A stopper-rod comprising, -a rod proper provided with an 7 axial bore extending through it, a head-brick and sleeve-bricks secured upon the rod, and an oxygen connection at the top of the bore of the rod proper, combined substantially as set forth. SAMUEL DOWREY, JR. 7

Witnessesr CHARLES VOLLBRECHT,

M. S. BELDEN.

copies of this Patent y be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. y 

